Officers at each school wanted; $1 million cost

Thursday

Jan 31, 2013 at 7:49 PMJan 31, 2013 at 7:50 PM

Oak Ridge Board of Education members are giving top priority to placing police officers in every school in the system — and they want leaders of the school system and city to come up with a proposal to fund the estimated $1 million cost.

by Donna Smith/Staff

Oak Ridge Board of Education members are giving top priority to placing police officers in every school in the system — and they want leaders of the school system and city to come up with a proposal to fund the estimated $1 million cost.

At Monday night’s meeting, the School Board unanimously approved a motion instructing interim School Superintendent Robert Smallridge to meet with City Manager Mark Watson and come up with a proposal on placing and funding officers at the schools.

The proposal would then be submitted to Oak Ridge City Council and School Board for consideration.

Board member Bob Eby, who made the motion, said if no other way of funding the positions is found the city could resort to a 10-cent property tax hike, which would generate approximately $1 million. Smallridge said paying each officer would cost roughly $60,000 to

$70,000 for salaries and fringe benefits, with additional costs for equipped police cars and uniforms.

“I cannot envision anyone who would not say this is No. 1 priority,” Eby said.

Karen Gagliano, the school system’s business manager, said increasing the property tax by 10 cents would cost a person with a house valued at $200,000 approximately $20 extra a year.

“You’re not talking about a lot of money per household,” Eby said. “I think it’s something we ought to put in perspective.”

Eby also mentioned that perhaps revenues generated from the traffic cameras could be used to pay for the SROs.

Board member Dan DiGregorio, a retired teacher, commented that officers in the school are seen as almost a “basic need” these days, but the guns that were used in violent attacks in schools were not given out in schools, but outside the schools. It’s a community problem, not just a school problem, he commented.

Improving safety at the schools and the need for more SROs has been discussed for a long while and didn’t just come up with the December massacre at the Connecticut elementary school, School Board Chairman Keys Fillauer said.

Currently, Oak Ridge schools — four elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and a preschool— have one SRO. In a memo to the School Board, Smallridge said at one time in the past he believed the school system had as many as three SROs. Methods of funding have included the city paying the full cost of the SRO or sharing the cost with the system, he and Gagliano said.

Smallridge also recommended SROs at each school.

The Board was presented with information on the number of SROs at other school systems in Tennessee. Anderson County schools has eight SROs at each of its 16 schools and Clinton city schools has one at each of its three schools. Roane County schools has six SR0s at its 17 schools.